Myths of the Norsemen From the Eddas and Sagas

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“Upsal’s temple, where the North

Saw Valhal’s halls fair imag’d here on earth.”

Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson).[41]

The first toast at every festival here was drunk in his honour, and, besides the first of May, one day in every week was held
sacred to him, and, from his Saxon name, Woden, was called Woden’s day, whence the English word “Wednesday” has been derived.
It was customary for the people to assemble at his shrine on festive occasions, to hear the songs of the scalds, who were
rewarded for their minstrelsy by the gift of golden bracelets or armlets, which curled up at the ends and were called “Odin’s
serpents.”

There are but few remains of ancient Northern art now extant, and although rude statues of Odin were once quite common they
have all disappeared, as they were made of wood—a perishable substance, which in the hands of the missionaries, and especially
of Olaf the Saint, the Northern iconoclast, was soon reduced to ashes.

Odin himself is supposed to have given his people a code of laws whereby to govern their conduct, in a poem called Hávamál,
or the High Song, which forms part of the Edda. In this lay he taught the fallibility of man, the necessity for courage, temperance,
independence, and truthfulness, respect for old age, hospitality, charity, and contentment, and gave instructions for the
burial of the dead.